Friday 7 September 2018

Adventure Entertaiments: The Babbage Engine & The Black Lady of Brodick Castle


 Two further scenarios from Fat Goblin Games

The babbage engine.

The Babbage Engine, the second official Adventure Entertainment for Castle Falkenstein written by Grandmaster Stephen Kenson and Mister J. Gray.

Players in this story have the opportunity to take a trip on the World’s First train controlled by an Analytical Engine - What could possibly go wrong? I am sure that dastardly villains will not take an interest in this Technological Marvel!

As it stands,this beautifully illustrated adventure would make a nice introduction for a new Host or new players. The plot and any Feats (actions) required are well explained. If the Host (GM) has some experience, either with Castle Falkenstein or running other RPGs, they can easily expand the plot with the useful suggestions included by Grandmaster Kenson. The epilogue provides more leads for future fun following the conclusion of this adventure.

Again, this short book has six pre-generated Dramatic Characters, however, four of them were in the previously published “Firearms & Margarine” adventure.

The slight railroading involved in the plot and the reuse of sample characters means that this action-filled adventure only gets a four out of five.






The Black Lady of Brodick Castle

The Black Lady of Brodick Castle is the third official Adventure Entertainment for Castle Falkenstein and the first to be written by Lady Jennifer R. Povey

A mystery plot centred around discovering the true nature of the being known as “The Black Lady” and her motives. Set on the Isle of Arran, in Scotland, this story is short but well-structured

The final outcome of this adventure has several options laid out and has been crafted to hinge entirely upon the actions of the Dramatic Characters. A few ideas for follow up scenarios are included.


Another well-explained and straightforward adventure which is well suited for Dramatic Characters whose Abilities are not orientated towards combat. It can be used for most types of character, but I feel that Lower Class characters may struggle a little due to their lack of Social Graces.

This short book has six pre-generated Dramatic Characters, however, four of them were previously published in “Firearms & Margarine” .

This mystery-filled adventure gets a four out of five.



Wednesday 5 September 2018

Adventure Entertainments: FIrearms and Margarine





Firearms & Margarine.
Firearms and Margarine is the first published official Adventure Entertainment (scenario) for Castle Falkenstein written by Mr. J Gray.

It is a fine Murder Mystery set in the city of Paris. The underlying plot premise is based on the point of view of Brownies, a nice touch to bring out the Faerie side of the Falkenstein Universe.

The story opens with a murder at a labour protest which the characters then investigate. The search for the culprit involves dealing with the Upper, Middle and the Working Classes and their appropriate prejudices. There are enough suspects and red herrings to keep the characters guessing. When the players have found the probable murderer, there are hints on adjusting the final denouement to suit your on campaign style.

The introduction has ideas on how to involve most types of Dramatic Characters in the storyline.

The plot line allows for different paths of inquiry, giving the players a range of freedom in their actions. Any aspects of the case that are unique to the Castle Falkenstein setting are clearly explained.

Lavishly illustrated with six pre-generated Dramatic Characters to get you started, this excellent product is well worth the price.

If you haven’t tried Castle Falkenstein, get the core rulebook and this supplement.
Not only do you gain a fun adventure, it gives plenty of guidance on play that is useful for new 
Hosts. Also, the layout of the book can act as a framework for building your own Adventure
Entertainments if you have just started to play the Great Game.

Sunday 13 May 2018

The Fifth Variation - The Six-Sided Variation

The Six-sided Variations

The fifth in Mr J Gray’s series on Castle Falkenstein rules variations, a shocking move for purist players as it involves the use of DICE!

In brief, there is a pot of chits representing the four card suits and jokers. Players draw four chits and then play a chit (or more) to carry out a Feat (action). If the chit is the same suit as the Ability it provides 2D6 and if it doesn’t match, it provides one point. Jokers are wild and automatically give a score of twelve! The dice are rolled and the score added to the Ability score as in normal play. There are, as in all of the Falkenstein Variations, a range of additional tweaks included in the booklet. These allow you to adapt the Six-sided variations to your own campaign style.

We decided to try it out in our group. I will admit that I was a little concerned that it might change the flavour of the game slightly.

It did not.

The Variation was quickly understood and actually speeded up play. Those who were less confident with the game’s card system made chit & dice roll decisions more quickly than they did with cards, allowing us to get on with the action.

The Six-sided Variation has been well thought out to produce similar results to the existing card rules, making them fully interchangeable. So in future games, I, as Host (GM), will allow each of my players to choose to use cards or dice according to their own preference (as long as they stick to their choice for the whole adventure).

Another useful and clearly explained set of optional rules for Castle Falkenstein. It can speed up your game and will be of particular use with existing gamers who are trying Falkenstein for the first time. As it has enhanced our game playing experience, I have to give it a full five stars.

Monday 30 April 2018

The Fouth Variation book - THE FEAT VARIATIONS


The Feat Variations

                                                                      

The Fourth in Mr J Gray’s series on Castle Falkenstein rules variations, this booklet deals with both the use of the cards in your hand to achieve success in Feats (actions) and the range of difficulty that can be set for any particular Feat.

“The Hard Limit Variation” which helps stop “Hand Dumping” where some players always use all of their cards on one Feat.

“The Half-Off Variation” which allows more cards in your hand to give more points towards a Feat. Over use of this variation can be countered by the “Ability Harmonics Option” in which the Host (GM) can apply slightly negative effects on players who use unaligned cards

Finally, “The Dwarfish Requirement Variation” increases the range of difficulty levels the Host has available to assign to a Feat. This means that the Host can get away without having to play cards from their hand purely to make a Feat trickier. The most useful part of this section of the booklet is a list of all the Abilities with examples of the sort of result that might be achieved at each level.

As always, there are options within each Variation to adapt the new rules should you wish to.

We are using all three of these variations. The “Ability Harmonics Option” has led to some enjoyable, random sub-plots appearing based upon the results. With “The Dwarfish Requirement Variation”, I have found that as I no longer need to use my Host hand on general Feats, I now keep it purely to apply to Host Characters (NPCs) who can think about where to apply their actions. This has sped up the play. The list of examples by Ability is really helpful and the table provided makes quick reference easy.

Yet another handy addition to Castle Falkenstein and as we use all three Variations, it’s a five out of five, thank you, Mister Gray.